Areas of Interest

I haven't looked into any rules for Samurai since Terry Gore's "Medieval Warfare" and Brian Bradford's "Killer Katanas."

Both were classics in their time. I recently read Black Powder and Hail Caesar, however and really liked the core ideas in the game, especially the unit customization.

That got me interested in giving Pike & Shotte a try for 28mm samurai. I've ordered the rules already but in the mean time I tried to find some battle reports using samurai for the rules. Unfortunately I came up with zero search results both at TMP and at the wider web.

I was just wondering if anyone had tried out the rules with samurai and how you liked them.

I have been using Peter Pig's Battles in the age of War,A nice pre-amble which my alter what you've got, when it comes,objectives and deploy your army in a Japanese manor.My armies are based up for DBR and FoG R as long as both sides are based in the same manor.All in all not difacult rules very playable and it has a feel of Japanese warfare.

While I commend his efforts,the work in itself should be treated as an introductory source with some noticeable errors in the armor department. Most modern Chinese and Korean illustrations aren't much better unfortunately.

"Most modern Chinese and Korean illustrations aren't much better unfortunately"

Wansui, I would not argue that at all. If you don't read Chinese or Korean (like me) and Bradfords book is the only one you can find at all with Imjin scenarios, he suddenly becomes the subject matter expert and your best friend.

I hope you are correct about 28mm Ming. All my favorite battles from this conflict involve both the Ming and Koreans.

Koreans have to extrapolate pre/post Imjin sources(hence some degree of anachronism) as there are no surviving Korean pictorial sources from the Imjin War. Fortunately,there are surviving brigandine,lamellar as well as textual references to cotton and paper armor that can be used to reconstruct the time period.

On the other hand,there is a plethora of contemporary Ming paintings and manuals with the main caveat;lack of extant armors.

B3 and C2 are movie props.

B4. An early Ming temple guardian. Given the ceremonial nature of the armor as well as the shift towards Zhao Jia based armors this would prove to be a poor fit for a Northern Chinese general.

C1. I won't comment on the veracity of the image given my lack of knowledge of Southeast Asian armors only that rattan armor was largely meant for naval operations and rarer than paper or leather. Zheng Wo Ji Gong Tu Juan depicts Liu Ting's native auxiliaries with lacquered leather armor instead.

C3. Traditional lamellar cataphract armors would be more appropriate. The helmet is based on the Wanli's Emperor parade helmet.

C4. An accurate representation of paper armor,the only thing missing is the paper armguards. Do note that Southern soldiers from the 1593 Ming expedition were described as only wearing a cloth uniform with a white turban/bandana.

D1. Antiquated lamellar armor from the Northern Song military manual Wujing Zongyao. Late Ming lamellar would be tailored in a waistcoat or surcoat fashion.

D2/D3. Two piece armors paired with pauldrons. Using period artwork as a guideline Ming soldiers would largely been equipped with a single piece surcoat armor. The earliest archeological reference I could find of brigandine shoulder armor consists of a suit of armor that belonged to a Datong garrison arquebusier officer(Zhao Yong) dating towards the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor(1629-1644).

D4. While a two piece armor configuration is certainly plausible,mounted infantry/cavalry wore a manica esque armguard. Moreover,diagonal rivet orientation were meant for ceremonial suits of brigandine indicating the absence of interior platelets.

Wansui, I would not argue that at all. If you don't read Chinese or Korean (like me) and Bradfords book is the only one you can find at all with Imjin scenarios, he suddenly becomes the subject matter expert and your best friend.

I don't mean to disparage the tremendous amount of information contained within the book. From a wargaming perspective the background information,scenarios and rulesets prove immensely useful for the time period. From my point of view there are some issues with the armors and flags in need a of revamp.

I hope you are correct about 28mm Ming. All my favorite battles from this conflict involve both the Ming and Koreans.

I share your enthusiasm,let's just say my research wasn't for naught! :)